Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 4-year-old half sister of the toddler who died yesterday in Centralia has been taken into protective custody, as police continue their investigation into the death.

Two-year-old Koralynn Fister was taken to the hospital yesterday afternoon after her mother’s boyfriend carried the naked and unbreathing child across the street, saying he found her under water in the bathtub.

He had been caring for her at her home, according to police.

The Centralia Police Department last night arrested the boyfriend, James M. Reeder, 25, for first-degree murder.

An autopsy this morning concluded the child died from drowning and blunt head trauma, according to the Lewis County Coroner’s Office. Coroner Warren McLeod has listed the manner death as homicide.

Centralia police detective Sgt. Pat Fitzgerald said the sibling was taken from the hospital by Child Protective Services last night, when the mother went to the police department to be interviewed about Koralynn’s death.

“We’re not at the point where we know whether the other child is in danger,” Fitzgerald said today about why that was done.

They conducted an informational interview with the mother, and detectives are basically working on if she had any culpability, he said.

The state Department of Social and Health Services Children’s Administration issued a statement saying they have no record of of history with the mother, Becky Heupel or her boyfriend.

The mother is not a suspect, Fitzgerald said.

Detectives are back at the home off of West Oakview Avenue today, recovering evidence and searching the house, according to Fitzgerald.

Among the items they are looking for is an object that might have been used on the toddler’s head, he said.

This afternoon, they have no idea what that might have been, he said.

Police said Reeder told them he was bathing the child, left to get a towel and returned to find the toddler face down in the bath tub.

Across the street neighbors said they opened their door to loud knocking around 3 p.m. to find the boyfriend trying to conduct CPR on their porch.

The child exhibited some injuries, recent and otherwise, that caused officers some concern, according to police.

Fitzgerald said the arrest was made in part because of inconsistent statements from Reeder.

Reeder told them the girl hit her head on the tub, he said.

“We have a version she fell back into the tub and struck her head,” he said. “That’s one version.”

Reeder is scheduled to go before a judge at 4 p.m. today in Lewis County Superior Court.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2012 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.